Your keys. Our tools.
No fees.
Cortical is an AI research company founded in 2026. We ship free, bring-your-own-key tools while building a proprietary model to eventually power them natively.
Make powerful AI tools free and accessible without diluting the research behind them.
We ship free BYOK tools today — Chat and Code — that let anyone use frontier models with zero platform fees. Meanwhile, the research arm is building a proprietary model designed for real-world deployment, not benchmarks.
Two tracks, one company
Products
Cortical Chat and Cortical Code are free, BYOK tools that work with OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, and more. You bring the key, we provide the experience.
Research
We're training a proprietary model from the ground up, informed by real product usage. The model is designed for deployment — not leaderboards.
What drives us
Research-led
Work starts from capability and evaluation.
Product-tested
Live usage exposes gaps faster than theory alone.
System-minded
Tooling, UX, and deployment constraints are part of the design.
Free by default
Tools should be free. BYOK means you pay your provider, not us.
Ship fast
Small team, tight loop. We ship weekly and learn from real usage.
Own the model
BYOK is the bridge. The proprietary model is the destination.
Timeline
Company founded
Cortical established as an AI research company under TIZZLE.
Cortical Chat launched
Free BYOK chat interface supporting OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google models.
Cortical Code launched
Terminal-based AI coding agent. Prompt to patch, inside your workspace.
Proprietary model
Custom model trained on real product usage data, designed for deployment.
Leadership
Xander Taylor
Founder & CEOXander Taylor founded Cortical in 2026 and leads the company's research and product direction, with a focus on building accessible AI experiences while moving toward proprietary model capability.
Building something from the ground up
There are no open roles at the moment. When hiring begins, this page will list the roles, focus areas, and expectations clearly.
Reach out with research, product, or company questions.
If you want to discuss the product, the company direction, or future collaboration, use the form and include enough context for a useful reply.